Animoca Brands partners with hi, a Web3 neobanking app that features cryptocurrency exchange services, conventional digital banking and customized NFT-styled debit cards.
Čítaj viac
Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu expects a number of its blockchain gaming investments to come to market by the end of 2023.
Čítaj viac
Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu believes Hong Kong’s efforts to foster the Web3 ecosystem is in stark contrast to regulatory uncertainty hampering development in the United States.
Čítaj viac
Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu believes nonfungible token (NFT) games are only scratching the surface of what’s possible and predicts completely new models of gaming will be developed as a result of digital ownership.Speaking to Cointelegraph, Siu likened the potential growth of NFT gaming to mobile phone gaming, which started out relatively niche and clunky in its formative stages before rocketing to become the most popular method of gaming across the globe. “Mobile gaming brought a form factor of a type of game that we’ve never seen before, you know, one-hand play and that kind of stuff, and innovations around how you play with AI [artificial intelligence]. Because of the fact that you have this limited form factor, it became the most popular form factor in gaming,” he said. Siu commented that while many blockchain games themselves also have a clunky experience at this stage, the whole sector is still quite new. As such, it is only a matter of time until more advanced models are created that are designed around the ideas of digital ownership, interoperability and economic utility for the user. “With NFT games, we’ve only really scratched the surface. Everyone’s very focused on ownership. […] I think it’s going to mushroom into everything and we’re going to see new kinds of game formats emerge because of the ownership that we weren’t able to do before.”In the interim period, Siu pointed to metaverse gaming platforms and massively multiplayer online games as models that fit well with NFTs, as you “can trade items and you have deep levels of economic design” that make sense. The Animoca co-founder also argued that many current users are willing to accept that the blockchain gaming experience is not necessarily smooth at this stage. He suggested that this was because they are aware of the significance of being able to own a stake in the games, as opposed to the traditional model in which people sink capital into games that they can never retrieve. “I mean, when you think of this [blockchain games], you could say it’s a UX [user experience] nightmare. But because of ownership, people put up with it not just because it’s valuable, but because it’s meaningful because this is my land, this is my car.”Asked when NFT technology will get to a point of seamlessness that even a grandmother can use it without being aware of it, Siu emphasized this would likely be through the widespread tokenization of physical things, NFT integration with commonly used services and how people interact with each other. Related: Blockchain games and metaverse projects raised $1.3B in Q3: DappRadarHe outlined that as the world continues to become more digitally focused, children will of course want digital things. “Grandma is probably going to buy a digital item for their grandchildren as a way to not just as a gift that’s relevant to them, but also as a way to interact,” he said, adding that vice versa, a grandchild could even gift their grandmother a digital illustration that they drew. “We’re going to have a digital world. These digital artifacts and art and creativity and games and utility that’s going to be mushrooming in the thousands and thousands and thousands of small medium enterprises that are going to be doing this.”
Čítaj viac
Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu thinks that GameFi has the biggest opportunity for growth in Asia, as gamers there don’t hold the same vitriol towards nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as they do in the West. Sitting down with Cointelegraph during Asia Crypto Week, Siu argued that Asia generally has more of a welcoming culture towards gaming and advancements in tech such as NFTs, digital property and Play-to-Earn (P2E). “I think that Asia has the potential to really lead in blockchain gaming, at least in the short term. And there’s a couple of reasons why I think that’s the case. Not just because, you know, there’s the most gamers in this region of the world. […] but it’s also because gamers in Asia are welcoming NFTs.” “Gaming companies in the West have to deal with consumer resistance that gaming companies in Asia do not have to,” he added. The Animoca co-founder attributed this acceptance of NFTs to a broader Asian viewpoint on capitalism, which he suggested is viewed more favorably in the region — barring China — than in the U.S., as people see it as a path out of poverty. He pointed to examples such as South Korea, which “only four decades ago” had the same size economy as North Korea but has swiftly climbed the global rankings through innovation, “creativity, legal frameworks, and property rights” despite lacking natural resources. “The consumer in Asia looks at capitalism as a net-good fight. In other words, okay, there is inequity. There’s a guy who made a lot of money, but [people] think ‘I can get there too, or I have an opportunity,’” he said. Drawing a contrast to the United States, Siu highlighted that capitalism draws a more demonized view by some people there, and rightly so as many people haven’t seen capitalism “work for them.”He argued that this type of thinking ultimately bleeds into gamers pushing back on NFTs, as people worry about being priced out of the market with expensive NFTs that are seen as a “rich man’s tool.” “When the headline news isn’t a $5 or $10 in-game NFT item, but a $300,000 Bored Ape well, then, you know it’s a little bit like saying the entire car industry is just Lamborghinis. That’s not true either. But that’s what we see. And so the rejection in the West comes from that lens.”Expanding on the Asian context, Siu also emphasized that blockchain gaming is opening up access to venture capital from Silicon valley that hasn’t really been tapped before, especially in the context of countries like the Philippines where P2E gaming guilds have become quite popular.Related: Gamers want fun, not a grind fest for tokens — Animoca subsidiaryHe again highlighted that this is due to a vibrant ecosystem that is growing in Asia as many gamers are adopting the tech while many projects are actively innovating in the space. “Now you have companies like a16z, not just ourselves investing but also Silicon Valley money moving into Vietnam and Philippines. I think that’s unheard of. So that’s kind of exciting as well. I do think Asia is pointing towards a web three blockchain gaming future. Broadly speaking,” he said.
Čítaj viac
Yat Siu, the co-founder of crypto/NFT venture fund giant Animoca Brands, labeled the recent Minecraft NFT ban as “hypocritical” and emphasized that nonfungible tokens (NFT) can be inclusive, despite arguments to the contrary.As previously reported, Minecraft developers Mojang Studios announced a ban on all NFT integrations in the game on July 20. The firm stated that NFTs were against its values, as they foster price speculation, scarcity, exclusion and potential rug pulls. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Siu expressed his frustration at Mojang Studios given the context in which NFTs were being integrated with Minecraft before the ban. Projects such as NFT Worlds were utilizing Minecraft’s open source servers to host a metaverse platform that had crypto and NFT ecosystems built around it. The project appeared to be relatively popular, given that it has generated more than $80 million worth of NFT trading volume and claims to have around 100,000 players. The Animoca Brands co-founder noted that he found it hypocritical that Minecraft would exclude a small portion of the user base, considering that the company’s stated that it values “inclusion” and suggested NFT integrations in games drive exclusion. “The general perspective is that this is hypocritical, NFTs have not hurt anyone at Minecraft, it’s very clearly a minority. This was not a decision of actual evidence of harm, this was a preference decision, purely based on an opinion.”“They did not cite evidence, they didn’t even correctly point out what NFTs are, nor did they talk to NFT Worlds,” he added. While Siu acknowledges many in the traditional gaming community want nothing to do with NFTs, generally out of fear of games becoming over-monetized and “even less fair.” In this instance, users had the choice to play in NFT-affiliated servers or not, and there were no NFT integrations forced on regular Minecraft users. Siu stressed that excluding minority views means “you actually hurt the whole community, and you stifle its growth.”Related: Epic Games ‘definitely won’t’ follow Minecraft NFT banIn terms of NFTs being inclusive, Siu argues that NFT tech or the digital property itself doesn’t foster inclusion or exclusion, and instead, it’s all about how the tech is deployed to drive community value. He noted that in the right contexts, NFTs in games or the Metaverse can offer users a redistribution of the platform’s economy and power. In Siu’s point of view, NFTs enable users to own a tokenized stake in their favorite platforms which can then be utilized how users see fit, as opposed to the Web2 model in which users are not offered ownership over their content and data.“What NFTs do is redistribute the economics of the players who add value to the game which then also has the same effect of decentralizing and redistributing the power dynamics inside games. [Therefore] allowing for more freedoms and power to the community instead of just a community.”“Property rights and freedoms are intertwined, the next natural evolution is digital property rights to either enhance or actually produce true digital freedom,” he added.
Čítaj viac
NFT investment giant Animoca Brands has acquired a major stake in Australian digital marketing agency Be Media. Be Media has locations in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney and has provided Web2 firms with advertising and digital strategy since 2013. While the company isn’t geared up towards the crypto sector, the investment seems to be a part of Animoca’s immediate aim to “shepherd companies into Web3.”According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Be Media will be tasked with seeking out partnerships with top Australian Brands relating to Animoca’s various blockchain-focused initiatives such as NFTs and launching an “open Metaverse”. “In line with its expanded scope after the acquisition, Be Media has begun an aggressive hiring process in the fields of blockchain development and project management to support the expanding pipeline of opportunities that the company will handle,” the announcement read. Be Media founder and CEO Jordan Fogarty — who will retain a minor stake and continue with his current role — outlined his enthusiasm for diving into blockchain tech with his firm, noting that he was “honored” to have the chance to help local companies take the plunge into Web3 and “introduce their customers to the metaverse, NFTs, and the power of digital property rights.” Speaking with the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on April 19, Fogarty also suggested that there is currently “insane” demand from the local business sector to adopt Web3 tech such as NFTs: “So many brands out there are saying they need to do something in web3, but how, and there’s not many service providers with the skills and experience because it’s so new.”“At the corporate level I’d be surprised if there aren’t many companies thinking of a strategy in this space,” he added.Related: ‘Our democracy will better evolve because of DAOs,’ says Animoca’s Yat SiuAnimoca, the crypto unicorn valued at around $5 billion, has been on a relentless investment spree over the past couple of years. Last week alone, Cointelegraph reported that the company acquired a 96% stake in Eden Games for $15 million, and a 70% stake in Darewise Entertainment. Both deals are expected to help the company develop triple-A level games backed by blockchain tech. While the investment in Be Media also adds to Animoca’s two other Australian investments which include gaming firms Blowfish Studios and Grease Monkey Games.
Čítaj viac
Gaming and venture capital firm Animoca Brands has completed its landmark acquisition of Eden Games, publishers of the Gear.Club, Test Drive series, and other popular racing games.Eden Games is a France-based firm that was founded in 1998. Engine Gaming and Media sold its 96% stake in the company to Animoca for $15.3 million on April 7.With the acquisition, Animoca plans to enhance its REVV Motorsport (REVV) ecosystem by taking a “Metaverse first approach” to new and existing gaming titles, as tweeted by Animoca chairman Yat Siu on April 12.It also hopes to introduce new blockchain-based racing games. Eden Games has partnerships within the automotive industry with the likes of BMW, Bugatti, Porsche, and others which should help Animoca build out a more robust suite of games for racing game aficionados. 1/ Motorsports @REVV_Token $revv in the Metaverse just got a turbocharge with the extremely talented studio behind @needforspeed @F1MobileRacing and classics like Test Drive any many more @EdenGames has joined the @animocabrands family. #NFTGames https://t.co/LTTN7H3CY6— Yat Siu (@ysiu) April 11, 2022The REVV Motorsport ecosystem includes the eponymous racing games on the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon, MotoGP: Ignition, Formula E: High Voltage, and Torque Drift. All the games are blockchain-based and integrate nonfungible tokens (NFTs).By inserting its NFT products into sports, Animoca will be able to capitalize on Deloitte’s estimated $2 billion in sports NFT transactions in 2022.Co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands Yat Siu said in an April 11 statement that the acquisition would “add value to the REVV community and the racing metaverse” by way of its many assets in the racing world.Animoca has been busy building out its own racing game ecosystem and is looking to fill the void created by its F1 Delta Time game shutting down on March 15 after losing its license with the Formula 1 racing brand. There is no word yet on what new titles may be under development as a result of the new acquisition.Related: Blue Chip and Metaverse NFTs propel growth of NFT Market, says Nansen reportF1 racing is a popular sport in the crypto industry with at least eight crypto companies, including exchange Binance, Crypto.com, and the Ethereum scaling solution Fantom, currently sponsoring teams. From a business perspective, its popularity makes perfect sense considering about one billion global fans are expected to view races throughout the 2022 season.Animoca Brands is one of the most active investors in the NFT and Metaverse spaces. Its other holdings include The Sandbox (SAND) and Axie Infinity (AXS).
Čítaj viac
Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman Yat Siu stated that his firm will continue to “shepherd companies into Web3” to speed up the evolution of the internet into an open Metaverse.Siu has long advocated for the broader concept of an open Metaverse as opposed to a closed one that is dominated by large centralized Web2 companies. Central to Siu’s argument is that decentralized Web3 platforms and tech such as NFTs offer users a chance to maintain ownership rights over their data and content online, instead of it being controlled and utilized by firms such as Meta (formerly Facebook). Siu made his latest comments while speaking on day three of the Australian Blockchain Week event earlier today. During his discussion hosted by Caroline Bowler — the CEO of local crypto exchange BTC Markets — the NFT proponent covered several topics including, the true value of Yuga Lab’s BAYC NFTs, the limitations of Web2, and Animoca’s ever-growing portfolio of companies and investments. Also, I just chatted with @ysiu and @ajamesbragg in the same week. What. A. Buzz. @BTCMarkets @BlockchainAUS @animocabrands #BlockchainWeek2022 https://t.co/HoVFOAlIQ4— Caroline Bowler (@CaroBowler) March 23, 2022When questioned on Animoca Brands’ roadmap moving forward, Siu said that the firm is still “super early” in its long term goal of building an open Metaverse, but emphasized the importance of speeding up the process due to the risk of having large centralized firms dominating the virtual sphere: “You will continue seeing us take that approach as we sort of, you know, try to shepherd companies into Web3. A lot of this is driven by ‘how do we accelerate the adoption of web3?’ because one of the bigger risks as we see it, is that if people don’t move into space quickly enough then inadvertently we will perhaps also create another kind of elite.” Adding to his point, Siu sounded the alarm bells on major firms that don’t want the decentralized and open Web3 movement to happen, as he argued that many of their business models are built around the monetization of user data. “There are very large centralized organizations who don’t want this to happen because they make money from our data. [from their point of view] Data is not a property that we should own. Data is a property that they should own and they can manipulate because that’s how the entire business is constructed,” he said, adding that “they’re the ones that we have to worry about from our perspective.”Related: How NFTs create a ‘beautiful cycle’ between artists and fansA major way to counter the centralized Metaverse firms according to Siu, is to onboard as many as possible onto Web3 until it develops into a sort of “global trade framework,” as users will become accustomed to the freedom and ability to own a stake in the space. He again warned that a move in the opposite would provide strengthen centralized firms and give them a stronger grip over the metaverse space in the future, prolonging what has already taken place in the web2 era: “If most of us decide to, you know, just exist in a closed metaverse or in a closed ecosystem entirely, then actually we live by their rules. And it would be hard to break out because they end up sort of manipulating and controlling that network effect, as we have seen today with some of the large tech companies.”Why #NFTs are the Foundation of the #OpenMetaverse? In case you missed @pgbiz London 2022 in February, here is the recap from the session with Animoca Brands co-founder & executive chairman @ysiu. Available on YouTube: https://t.co/LPvr5HqT1m pic.twitter.com/RTDf46Ozb9— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) March 21, 2022
Čítaj viac
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, saw the largest single-day slide in market value for a U.S. company ever with a 26% fall in share prices on Thursday after the tech giant revealed disappointing earnings and a decline in daily active users. Meta famously changed its name from Facebook in late 2021, to signal its plans to focus on the Metaverse, and its struggles have coincided with double-digit percentage gains for its decentralized competitors The Sandbox and Decentraland.Meta reported $33.67 billion worth of total revenue for Q4 2021, compared to $28 billion the year prior. However, its net income decreased to $10.28 billion, down from $11.2 billion 12 months ago. For the first time, Meta broke out a segment in its earnings report for its virtual and augmented reality research and development business, Reality Labs. It saw losses which topped over US$10 billion, up from US$6.6 billion in 2020. However it’s only in the early stages of laying the groundwork for Metaverse technology, including developing a haptic glove, allowing users to “touch” objects in the metaverse.Speaking with Cointelegraph, Animoca Brands chairman and co-founder Yat Siu, suggested that the sharp drop of Meta’s share price may represent a broader trend in which users are beginning to question the centralized Web2 model: “It’s a system that does not share any meaningful part of the ownership or value of the network, which will eventually lead to a decline as users look for better options.”“As people are still likely to spend even more time online, the question is where and how? This is an early indicator that they are moving away from Web 2.0 and the logical conclusion on where to go for a growing number is Web 3,” he added.Siu argued that Web2 companies like Meta and Apple are also “losing their best people” to Web3 companies and projects:“Web 3 and the open Metaverse is more than just another product cycle, it’s a movement, and it’s hard to fight something like that as a single corporation.”Crypto-backed metaversesDecentraland, a Metaverse platform built on Ethereum, has seen the price of its token MANA increase by over 20% the past seven days, surging from a seven-day low of US$2.19 to recent support levels around the US$2.60 mark.Likewise, SAND tokens for The Sandbox, one of Decentraland’s main Metaverse competitors, has seen a seven-day gain of 17.5%, entering the weekend at a low of US$3.31 before surging to a high of over US$4, now seeing support levels around US$3.60.Related: Bitcoin bounces at $36.6K as Meta adds 20% losses to US tech stock routApart from Meta, other factors are affecting prices for MANA and SAND this week. Decentraland released it’s 2022 Manifesto, announcing a prototype mobile app, improvements to its play experience, greater utility of NFTs, and protocol enhancements.The Sandbox team announced a partnership with UniX Gaming, a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), and a release of more “land” in its metaverse slated for February 10th. Animoca Brands owns The Sandbox, and there were unconfirmed rumors earlier this week that Meta would be acquiring the Metaverse platform. However Siu promptly shut those rumors down on Feb. 3. There is an unconfirmed rumor that Facebook is about to acquire @TheSandboxGame. It looks like regulation is coming sooner than later to this space… https://t.co/XiAelDoBac— NFT Ethics (@NFTethics) February 2, 2022Outside of Meta, other big tech companies including Apple and Microsoft are getting into the space. Entertainment giant Disney also seems to be gearing up for a move into the Metaverse with a recent job advertisement for a Business Development Manger seeks looking for someone to “help lead Disney’s efforts in the NFT space”.It’s not immediately clear if Disney’s efforts could relate to it’s planned headset-free augmented reality Metaverse project uncovered by patent filings.
Čítaj viac
Alternative sports organization Fan Controlled Football (FCF) has raised $40 million in Series A funding from crypto and blockchain gaming firms to support the league’s expansion plans, including four new teams and an NFT project. The FCF was founded in 2017 by Sohrob Farudi, Patrick Dees, Ray Austin and Grant Cohen and hosted its debut season inside a bubble environment in Atlanta amid the pandemic last year. The FCF features an indoor version of American football in a seven vs seven-player format, and the games are streamed live on Twitch. The unique feature of the league is that the teams are governed by their fans, who have voting rights on anything ranging from player acquisitions, in-game plays, branding and team selection. For the upcoming season, NFTs will play a key role in the voting process for half of the teams. The $40 million Series A funding round was led by NFT and crypto firms Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital. The funds will be used to expand the league from four to eight teams for the 2022 season, along with launching NFTs called “The Ballerz Collection.” All four of the new teams are owned by figures tied to NFT projects with the Bored Apes and Gutter Cats teams being the latest to be announced following the unveiling of the Knights of Degen and Team 80KI (co-owned by DJ and NFT proponent Steve Aoki) in October. The FCF is rolling out 8,888 Ballerz NFT avatars for each new team which fans can snap up to hodl and obtain voting rights for their team. The NFTs will differ in rarity and value, with the more expensive tokens offering greater benefits such as enhanced voting power, exclusive content and game tickets. Any existing Bored Ape Yacht Club or Gutter Cat NFT hodlers will also receive a 50% discount on Ballerz NFT purchases if they buy tokens corresponding to those teams. The NFTs are slated to drop late this month, and the public minting cost per token will be 0.1776 Ether (ETH) or roughly $580. Four new FCF teams: fcf.ioSpeaking with Cointelegraph , Animoca Brands chairman and co-founder Yat Siu emphasized that fan tokens can enable fans to directly participate in their favorite sports: “One of the most powerful things that tokenization does is release the energy of fans into tangible forms of value and meaning, we see this effect in NFTs and also social tokens.”“Fan Controlled Football is an evolution where the game is in the hands of the fan from the get-go and introducing blockchain technology will give it deeper meaning and purpose for all the fans that are playing FCF,” he added. Related: 3x NBA champion Andre Iguodala becomes the latest athlete to receive salary in cryptoIn an interview with Forbes on Jan. 12, FCF co-founder Farudi stated that the organization is “experimenting” with its format and will continue to do so to find out what works best for the fans and the league. “We don’t know exactly what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. But we don’t have a player’s union. We don’t have 30 owners around the table telling us no. We have one agenda. Our agenda is to be successful. We’re going to experiment to the nth degree to figure out what works and what fans love,” he said.
Čítaj viac
